Openly Straight

by Bill Konigsberg

A witty, coming-out-again story follows teenage Rafe's journey through being different, fitting in, and finding what it means to be himself.

• ISBN10: 1680650327
• ISBN13: 9781680650327
• Publish Date: 28 April 2015 (first published 28 May 2013)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 14 September 2021
• Imprint: Perfection Learning
• Format: Hardcover (Library Binding)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[nannah]

DNF @28%

Content warnings:
consent issues and rape
homophobic slurs
(maybe more, but I didn't read on)

I really tried to like this and get into it. But I just Could Not Stand the gay protagonist, Rafe, who says he wants to shed all labels when he gets into this all-dude boarding school.

And then he proceeds to judge and label literally Everyone around him (especially the women...). --> "will this help my status because I hang with the 'dorks'"?; "he seems like THIS kind of person so I'll hang with him."; "she wears so much makeup, all that false eyelashes and caked-on foundation, she's so fake, a fake girl, etc."

He treats people terribly, including his best friend. There's just so much I could take before this book became unreadable.

And then I found out (from reviews here) that he emotionally manipulates the main love interest (?), and that there's some Very Nasty consent issues - including one where (rape warning) Rafe takes advantage of the love interest when he's drunk. And it's treated as romantic.

Nope. Nope, nope, nope. I'm not going to finish this.

[Bianca]

It’s hard to be different. And perhaps the best answer is not to tolerate differences, not even to accept them. But to celebrate them. Maybe then those who are different would feel more loved, and less, well, tolerated.